DIY: Make Your Own HEPA Air Filtration System for $30! For some of us, allergens are our worst enemy — the fresh pollen of spring, fall foliage, and of course the ever present dust, mold and animal dander. Sometimes the only solution is a high-tech air filtration system, but these complex systems can cost up to $800. But if you’re an allergy sufferer, today is your luck day as Dr. Jeffrey E. Terrell of the University of Michigan Health System’s Sinus Center shows us how to make our own easy air filtration system, for just $30! Cleaning the air in our homes, especially the bedroom, is imperative to avoiding sinus problems and other allergy related side effects.
Then head to the furnace and heating section, and pick up a twenty by twenty furnace filter. Just note that your DIY purifier will be more effective on the floor, rather than in a window, because it will then filter out air in your home, rather than from the outside. . + University of Michigan Via Newswise. Photochemical carbon dioxide reduction. Photochemical carbon dioxide reduction harnesses solar energy to convert CO2 into higher-energy products.
The chemical conversion of CO2 already occurs on an industrial scale in the manufacture of solvents such as formic acid, but photochemical reduction differs in that it relies on a renewable energy source, the sun. Because CO2 is a greenhouse gas, there is environmental interest in producing artificial systems that are efficient photocatalysts, but the low turn-over rates of current methods have prohibited wide-scale industrial application. Overview[edit] [1] Molecular sensitizers that meet this criterion often include a metal center, as the d-orbital splitting in organometallic species often falls within the energy range of far-UV and visible light. An example of photoexcitation using Ru(bpy)3 and triethylamine. After excitation, CO2 coordinates or otherwise interacts with the inner coordination sphere of the reduced metal. History[edit] Current Work[edit] See also[edit] Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home | Indoor Air | US Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA 402-F-08-004, May 2008 A PDF Version of this document is available (PDF, 12 pp., 238 K, about PDF) See also: Residential Air Cleaners (Second Edition) A Summary of Available Information HTML Version | PDF Version (PDF, 36 pp., 606 K) Contents Introduction Indoor air pollutants are unwanted, sometimes harmful materials in the air. Indoor air pollution is among the top five environmental health risks. Please Note: EPA neither certifies nor recommends particular brands of home air cleaning devices. Under Federal pesticide law, manufacturers of ozone generators must list an EPA establishment number on the packaging. Some portable air cleaners sold in the consumer market are ENERGY STAR qualified. Indoor Air Pollutants Pollutants that can affect air quality in a home fall into the following categories: Top of page What Types of Pollutants Can an Air Cleaner Remove?
There are several types of air cleaning devices available, each designed to remove certain types of pollutants. Particle Removal. Green Products, Green Building Materials | Green Depot. Chemical 'sponge' could filter CO2 from the air - environment - 03 October 2007. Sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere could provide a last-ditch solution to climate change, according to calculations performed by a US scientist. Frank Zeman at Columbia University in New York, US, believes CO2 could be efficiently extracted from the atmosphere using a relatively simple chemical process, before being buried underground. This would help reduce the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - a phenomenon that is widely blamed for global warming Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is currently being explored as a way to reduce CO2 emissions from large industrial plants.
The idea is to isolate - or "scrub" - the gas from factory exhaust before it is released into the atmosphere. But Zeman believes CCS could also offer a way to soak up CO2 that has already been emitted into the atmosphere. Unlike factories and power plants, cars, planes and homes each emit relatively small amounts of CO2. Transportation, for instance, accounts for about 15% of global emissions. IQAir HealthPro Technology - Indoor Air Purifiers with HEPA. HEPA Air Purifiers Developed in the 1940s, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) technology was made popular by use in medical cleanrooms, and it is still the most reliable and effective technology used.
Air purifiers equipped with a HEPA air filter absorb up to 99.97% of all particles, like allergens, pollen, dust, dander, and others that are 0.03 microns and larger in size; harmful indoor air particles that cause allergy and asthma symptoms are measured to be about 0.03 microns or larger. Air purifiers like Alen and Blueair use HEPA in combination with electrostaticity, which allows an electrical charge to trap particles traveling in the air stream.
As a result, more particles are gathered and the charged particles are brought directly to the HEPA air filter which captures them. Bacteria, dust, and pollen and other microscopic particles are absorbed by HEPA air filters, so the air that re-circulates in your home is clean, fresh, and scarce of harmful contaminants. Ozone Generators. Indoor Air. Indoor air quality. A common air filter, being cleaned with a vacuum cleaner Determination of IAQ involves the collection of air samples, monitoring human exposure to pollutants, collection of samples on building surfaces and computer modelling of air flow inside buildings. IAQ is part of IEQ (Indoor Environmental Quality), which includes IAQ as well as other physical and psychological aspects of life indoors (e.g., lighting, visual quality, acoustics, and thermal comfort).[1] Common pollutants[edit] Second-hand smoke[edit] Second-hand smoke is tobacco smoke which affects other people other than the 'active' smoker.
Radon[edit] Radon is an invisible, radioactive atomic gas that results from the radioactive decay of radium, which may be found in rock formations beneath buildings or in certain building materials themselves. Molds and other allergens[edit] Main articles: Mold health issues, Mold growth, assessment, and remediation There are some varieties of mold that contain toxic compounds (mycotoxins).